Hanger clip for suspended ceilings

ABSTRACT

A hanger clip for use with suspended ceilings comprising a right arm and a left arm which are pivotally connected intermediate their length. The right and left arms each terminate upwardly in flanges for ceiling gripping purposes. The left arm terminates downwardly in a vertically aligned hanger portion and the right arm terminates downwardly in an operating arm for clip opening movement. A coil spring biases between the right and left arms intermediate the pivotal connection and the flanged ends to continuously bias the right and left arm flanges toward each other.

United States atet [191 Drab HANGER CLIP FOR SUSPENDED CEILINGS [76]lnventor: Edward A. Drab, 344 East Tenth Avenue, Conshohocken, Pa. 19428[22] Filed: May 10, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 150,868

[52] US. Cl. 248/228, 24/248 SB, 24/259 R [51] Int. Cl F21s H02 [58]Field of Search 248/228, 58, 317,

248/226 C, 316 B; 24/248 SB, 259 R, 248 BC, 248 HE, 248 CR, 248 BJ [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,074,648 10/1913 Schwartzberg248/316 B 2,981,509 4/1961 Messenger et a1. 248/316 B X 2,944,781 7/1960Masten 248/228 3,601,862 7/1969 Hargadon 248/317 X FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 376,108 7/1932 Great Britain 248/228 .Euly 3,1973

19,528 4/1900 Great Britain 24/248 HE Primary Examiner-J. Franklin FossAttorney-Karl L. Spivak [5 7] ABSTRACT A hanger clip for use withsuspended ceilings comprising a right arm and a left arm which arepivotally connected intermediate their length. The right and left armseach terminate upwardly in flanges for ceiling gripping purposes. Theleft arm terminates downwardly in a vertically aligned hanger portionand the right arm terminates downwardly in an operating arm for clipopening movement. A coil spring biases between the right and left armsintermediate the pivotal connection and the flanged ends to continuouslybias the right and left arm flanges toward each other.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented July 3, 1973 3,743,228

0 INVENTOR.

EDWARD A. DRAB MK W ATTORNEY.

HANGER CLIP FOR SUSPENDED CEILINGS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates generally to the field of spring clip devices,and more particularly, is directed to a hanger clip for suspendedceilings.

It is common practice in constructing buildings which are designedprimarily for office and similar to employ conventional structuremembers in accordance with local building codes and other constructionregulations. Beneath the ceiling structural members, in order toinexpensively and decoratively treat the ceiling construction members,it is now common practice to employ suspended ceilings to shield pipes,conduits, ductwork and other mechanical building services which arenormally run exposed beneath the structural ceiling slab. Inasmuch as itis quite often necessary to reach the mechanical building systems formaintenance, repair of alterations after the building is in use, mosttypes of suspended ceilings presently being utilized employ means toeasily reach the mechanical services which are shielded by the suspendedceiling construction. Such presently available ceiling systems usuallyinclude a grid work comprising elongate, light metal Tee bars arrangedin spaced rows which are usually spaced approximately two feet apart. Insome suspended ceiling designs, cross rows of elongate Tee bars are alsoemployed. The Tee bars are suspended from the structural ceiling bymeans of wires or other fasteners and are hung with the Tee headpositioned downwardly to act as a flange to receive and retaindecorative, acoustical title panels therein. The decorative, acousticaltile panels removably suspend between adjacent rows of Tee bars andsimply rest upon the flanged Tee heads in a readily installable andremovable manner leaving the Tee heads of the elongate grids exposed atthe junctions between adjacent ceiling panels.

It is presently the common practice to build large offree working areaswithout separation to accommodate various divisions of large companiessuch as accounting, clerical, drafting and the like. Because of thelarge areas generally provided, it is usually necessary to devise sometype of system for indicating the various subdivisions within theoverall operation. Accordingly, some type of sign is generally employed.Because of the large expanses of office space normally provided, thereare usually few, if any, walls or other permanent portions of thestructure upon which to affix the necessary signs. To a large extent,employees have been known to improvise and to use any readily availablemethod to identify the various sub-sections such as by hangingimprovised signs from the ceiling gridwork. The present methods resultin time consuming practices and unprofessional appearing work areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally tohanger clips, and more particularly is directed to a novel hanger clipfor suspended ceilings, finding particular utility in supporting memberssuch as signs from the grid system of suspended ceiling construction.

The hanger clip of the present invention incorporates an extremelyinexpensive clip for removably affixing to suspended ceilingconstructions. It is the purpose of the clip to provide a mechanicalconnection which is readily adjustable and removable when used withsuspended ceiling constructions for hanging any object which it isdesired to support from the ceiling. The clip has slim design so as toavoid displacement of the ceiling acoustical tile panels when the clipis in place. The design is readily interchangeable between all types ofsuspended ceilings and is simple, fast and readily adjustable when inuse.

The hanger clip of the present invention incorporates a right arm and aleft arm which are pivotally connected and the pivot connectionpositions intermediate the ends of the arms. The arms terminate upwardlyin flanged ends for gripping the bars of suspended ceiling construction.A spring affixes to the right and left arms intermediate the flangedends and the pivotal connection and biases the flanged ends together forceiling grid connection purposes. The arms terminate downwardly from thepivotal connection in means provided to support a hanging member such asa sign and also in means to urge the flanged ends apart against the biasof the coil spring. The hanger clip provides an inexpensive, easilyinstalled and finished appearing device for office sign hangingpurposes. It is therefore an object of the present invention to providea novel hanger clip for suspended ceilings that is universal inapplication with suspended ceilings of many designs and constructions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel hangerclip for suspended ceilings that is simple in construction and extremelyfast in application to many types of suspended ceilings.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel hangerclip for suspended ceilings that is capable of readily and stronglyconnecting to the grid bars of suspended ceilings for article hangingpurposes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel hangerclip for suspended ceilings that is of flat, slim design to provide arelatively strong, lightweight hanger that functions with existingsuspended ceilings without displacement of the ceiling tiles.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a novel hangerclip for suspended ceilings that is inexpensive in manufacture, simplein design and trouble free when in use.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had byreferring to the following description and claims of a preferredembodiment thereof, taken into conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of asuspended ceiling construction with hanger clips in accordance with thepresent invention suspended therefrom.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective view of a hanger clip for suspendedceilings fabricated in accordance with the present invention. A portionof a ceiling tee bar is illustrated in phantom lines for purposes ofassociation.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the clip of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the hanger clip taken along Line4-4 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Althoughspecific terms are used in the following description for the sake ofclarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particularstructure of my invention selected for illustration in the drawings andare not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, I show in FIG. 2 a hanger clip as appliedto a Tee bar 12 of a conventional suspended ceiling construction. In theembodiment illustrated, the hanger clip 10 comprises a right arm 14which pivotally connects with the left arm 16 for hanger securingpurposes. The right and left arms 14, 16 respectively pivot about thepivot pin 18 in conventional manner, such as by incorporating pivotbearings 50, 52 pressed in the arm material. Each of the arms l4, l6upwardly outwardly bend from the pivot pin 18 to form a hanger clip 10of generally V-shaped, cross-sectional configuration. See FIG. 3. Theright and left arms 14, 16 terminate upwardly in respective inwardlybent flanges 20, 22 which serve to lock upon the Tee head 24 of theceiling grid Tee bar 12. Preferably, the right and left arms 14, 16angularly outwardly incline from the pivot pin 18 at the same angle andterminate in the flanges 20, 22 which are similarly formed to the samegeneral configuration. A coil spring 26 positions intermediate the pivotpin 18 and the flanged ends 20, 22 and has its ends 28, 30 respectivelysecured to the right and left arms 14, 16 in conventional manner such asby inserting through holes 32 punched through the arms 14, 16. Thespring 26 serves to continuously bias the flanges 20, 22 together forgrid Tee bar securing purposes as hereinafter more fully set forth.

The left arm 16 terminates downwardly from the pivot pin 18 in avertically aligned hanger portion 34 which serves as the point ofattachment for hanging any desired load such as a sign 36. The hangerportion 34 is punched or otherwise treated to provide a hole 38 toreceive a string or wire 48 for sign hanging purposes. Usually, a holeof one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter will prove satisfactory for theservice. The right arm 14 terminates below the pivot pin 18 in anoperating arm 40 which bends about the pivot pin 18 beneath the upperportion of the arm 14 to form an acute angle A from the vertical. Thus,the operating arm 40 of the right arm 14 is angularly disposed from thehanger portion 34 of the left arm 16 by an angular displacement equal tothe angle A.

By applying pressure of two fingers (not shown) to squeeze the operatingarm 40 toward the hanger portion 34, the right and left arms 14, 16 willpivot about the pivot pin 18 and tend to open the space between theflanges 22, 24 against the bias of the coil spring 26. Release of thehanger portion 34 and operating arm 40 will permit the coil spring 26 tobias the respective flanges 20, 22 together. In the manner illustratedin FIGS. 2 and 3, should an object, for instance a Tee head 24 of a Teebar 12 interpose between the flanges 20, 22, the Tee head 24 willpreventfurther inward movement of the flanges 20, 22 toward each other.In this case, the spring 26 biases the upper portions 42, 44 of theright and left arms l4, 16 into tight engagement with the sides of theTee head 24 with the flanges 20, 22 positioned above the Tee head 24.Thus, relative downward movement of the hanger clip 10 with respect tothe Tee bar 12 is prevented by the flanges and relatively heavy loadsmay be suspended at the hole 38 without causing the hanger clip 10 todisassociate from the Tee bar 12.

In order to use the device, any desired number of hanger clips 10 may beemployed in conjunction with a suspended grid type ceiling 46 to suspendsigns 36 and the like in a manner to permit easy visual observation. SeeFIG. 1. The hanger clip 10 affixes to the Tee bars 12 at the Tee heads24 thereof for load carrying purposes. Inward finger pressure upon therespective hanger clip hanger portion 34 and operating arm 40 forces theright and left flanges 20, 22 apart against the bias of the coil spring26 by reducing the angle A. The flanges 20, 22 position above the Teehead 24 and finger pressure upon the hanger portion 34 and operating arm40 is then released to allow the bias of the coil spring 26 to pull theflanges 20, 22 together until the respective upper portions 42, 44 ofthe right and left arm 14, 16 contact the Tee head construction 24. SeeFIGS. 2 and 3. In this position, the coil spring 26 serves to lock theupper portions 42, 44 of the arms l4, 16 upon the Tee head 24 with theflanges 20, 22 positioned above the Tee head. A sign 36 or other hangingmember then suspends from one or more hanger clips 10 by use of a wire48 or other thin, flexible member which afflxes to the sign 36 at oneend thereof and to the hanger clip 10 at the other end thereof byinserting through the hole 38 in conventional manner.

Should it be desirable or necessary to change the lo cation of a sign36, all that is then necessary would be to simply squeeze the respectivehanger portions 34 and operating arms 40 of the hanger clips 10 employedfor the purpose until each hanger clip can be lifted clear of itsassociated Tee head 24. The sign 36 can then be relocated in any desiredposition and then rehung by simply squeezing the respective hanger portions and operating arms 34, 40 of the hanger clips 10 until the rightand left flanges 20, 22 open wide enough to insert over the associatedportions of the Tee head 24 in the new location.

I claim:

1. In a hanger clip construction for use with Tee bars of suspendedceiling constructions having a longitudinal axis wherein the Tee barincludes a horizontally disposed head which terminates laterally inopposed edges and upwardly in a substantially flat top, the combinationof A. a left arm including a first upper inclined section,

1. said left arm inclined section terminating upwardly in an integralvertical, left upper portion,

2. said left upper portion contacting one of the edges of the Tee barhead,

3. said left upper portion terminating upwardly in a first inwardly bentflange,

4. said first flange having a first downwardly facing bottom surface,

5. the said first bottom surface contacting the top of the Tee bar head,6. said first upper inclined section terminating downwardly in a hangerportion,

a. said hanger portion being vertically aligned,

b. said hanger portion being provided with a hole for attaching objectsto be hung;

B. a right arm including a second upper inclined section whichintersects the said first inclined section,

I. said second upper inclined section terminating upwardly in anintegral, vertical, right upper portion,

2. said right upper portion contacting the second of the Tee bar headedges,

3. said right upper portion terminating upwardly in a second inwardlybent flange from the hanger portion by an angular dis placement equal tothe acute angle; C. pivotal means interconnecting the left arm and theright arm, said pivotal means including 1. a first pivot bearing pressedin the left arm,

a. said first pivot bearing being positioned at the junction between thefirst upper inclined section and the hanger portion,

2. a second pivot bearing pressed in the right arm,

a. said second pivot bearing being positioned at the junction betweenthe second upper inclined section and the operating arm, and 3. a pivotpin inserted through the first and second pivot bearings;

D. and a spring biasing the first and second inwardly bent flangestogether and having a first end and a second end,

1. the first end connecting to the first upper inclined section,

2. the second end connecting to the second upper inclined sectionwhereby the left and right upper portions are urged into grippingcontact with the edges of the Tee bar head and whereby the weight of theobject supported by the hanger pulls the flanges into contact with thetop surface of the Tee bar head.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the right and left upper portionsare vertically disposed in spaced vertical planes.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein the hanger portion vertically'alignswith the longitudinal axis of the

1. In a hanger clip construction for use with Tee bars of suspendedceiling constructions having a longitudinal axis wherein the Tee barincludes a horizontally disposed head which terminates laterally inopposed edges and upwardly in a substantially flat top, the combinationof A. a left arm including a first upper inclined section,
 1. said leftarm inclined section terminating upwardly in an integral vertical, leftupper portion,
 2. said left upper portion contacting one of the edges ofthe Tee bar head,
 3. said left upper portion terminating upwardly in afirst inwardly bent flange,
 4. said first flange having a firstdownwardly facing bottom surface,
 5. the said first bottom surfacecontacting the top of the Tee bar head,
 6. said first upper inclinedsection terminating downwardly in a hanger portion, a. said hangerportion being vertically aligned, b. said hanger portion being providedwith a hole for attaching objects to be hung; B. a right arm including asecond upper inclined section which intersects the said first inclinedsection,
 1. said second upper inclined section terminating upwardly inan integral, vertical, right upper portion,
 2. said right upper portioncontacting the second of the Tee bar head edges,
 3. said right upperportion terminating upwardly in a second inwardly bent flange
 4. saidsecond flange lying in the same horizontal plane as the first flange, 5.said second flange having a second downwardly facing bottom surface, 6.said second bottom surface contacting the top of the Tee bar head, 7.said second upper inclined section terminating downwardly in anoperating arm, a. said operating arm bending about its junction with thesecond upper inclined section to form an acute angle with the vertical,b. said operating arm being angularly disposed from the hanger portionby an angular displacement equal to the acute angle; C. pivotal meansinterconnecting the left arm and the right arm, said pivotal meansincluding
 1. a first pivot bearing pressed in the left arm, a. saidfirst pivot bearing being positioned at the junction between the firstupper inclined section and the hanger portion,
 2. a second pivot bearingpressed in the right arm, a. said second pivot bearing being positionedat the junction between the second upper inclined section and theoperating arm, and
 3. a pivot pin inserted through the first and secondpivot bearings; D. and a spring biasing the first and second inwardlybent flanges together and having a first end and a second end,
 1. thefIrst end connecting to the first upper inclined section,
 2. the secondend connecting to the second upper inclined section whereby the left andright upper portions are urged into gripping contact with the edges ofthe Tee bar head and whereby the weight of the object supported by thehanger pulls the flanges into contact with the top surface of the Teebar head.
 2. the second end connecting to the second upper inclinedsection whereby the left and right upper portions are urged intogripping contact with the edges of the Tee bar head and whereby theweight of the object supported by the hanger pulls the flanges intocontact with the top surface of the Tee bar head.
 2. The invention ofclaim 1 wherein the right and left upper portions are verticallydisposed in spaced vertical planes.
 2. said left upper portioncontacting one of the edges of the Tee bar head,
 2. said right upperportion contacting the second of the Tee bar head edges,
 2. a secondpivot bearing pressed in the right arm, a. said second pivot bearingbeing positioned at the junction between the second upper inclinedsection and the operating arm, and
 3. said right upper portionterminating upwardly in a second inwardly bent flange
 3. said left upperportion terminating upwardly in a first inwardly bent flange,
 3. Theinvention of claim 2 wherein the hanger portion vertically aligns withthe longitudinal axis of the Tee bar.
 3. a pivot pin inserted throughthe first and second pivot bearings; D. and a spring biasing the firstand second inwardly bent flanges together and having a first end and asecond end,
 4. said first flange having a first downwardly facing bottomsurface,
 4. said second flange lying in the same horizontal plane as thefirst flange,
 5. said second flange having a second downwardly facingbottom surface,
 5. the said first bottom surface contacting the top ofthe Tee bar head,
 6. said first upper inclined section terminatingdownwardly in a hanger portion, a. said hanger portion being verticallyaligned, b. said hanger portion being provided with a hole for attachingobjects to be hung; B. a right arm including a second upper inclinedsection which intersects the said first inclined section,
 6. said secondbottom surface contacting the top of the Tee bar head,
 7. said secondupper inclined section terminating downwardly in an operating arm, a.said operating arm bending about its junction with the second upperinclined section to form an acute angle with the vertical, b. saidoperating arm being angularly disposed from the hanger portion by anangular displacement equal to the acute angle; C. pivotal meansinterconnecting the left arm and the right arm, said pivotal meansincluding